Tips for Entertaining Your Toddler

As a work-at-home mom, I often struggle to keep my toddler entertained while I work. It seems like I'm always doing two jobs at once-- one hand on the keyboard and the other on the kid's collar. It's not always easy to entertain your toddler while you work from home, but these tips have helped me fulfill this difficult task.

1. Remember she's a kid. You've been on the computer for four hours and your toddler starts screaming and throwing things. Is it really that unreasonable that your toddler is upset? A two-year-old isn't supposed to be able to self-entertain for several hours at a time. If anything, your toddler's tantrum is a sign that it's time for both of you to take a break. Remember that your child needs human interaction for at least several hours per day.

2. T.V. is a last resort. The almighty boob tube is a primary source of entertainment for far too many toddlers, but I avoid it in most cases because I could easily fall into the habit of letting my toddler watch T.V. for the entirety of an eight-hour work-at-home shift. My best advice is to use the T.V. as an auto-babysitter only when you absolutely have to reach a deadline and your toddler won't accept any other form of entertainment.

3. Keep good toys on hand. Train sets, Legos, art supplies, paper dolls, toy barns, puzzles, board games-- your toddler can stay entertained for hours while you work at home if you have a good supply of educational toys. I sometimes "hide" a toy for several days and then bring it out again when I need for my toddler to entertain herself. When your toddler is distracted and entertained by her own toys, use this as an opportunity to hop to work and get something important accomplished.

4. Delegate tasks. Your toddler wants something to do. Even if a task is meaningless, it can keep your toddler entertained and make him feel like he has a job to do. For example, ask your toddler to count all of the windows in the house while you work from home. Suggest that he draw ten circles on two pieces of paper. Ask him to organize your refrigerator magnets my color. These tasks may not serve a practical purpose, but they will keep your toddler occupied and educated while you work.

5. Include your toddler in your work. Until my daughter was two, she had no idea what I was doing when I seemed to be ignoring her. After I explained that I was writing an article so that I would have money for toys and books, she was happy to "help" in any way she could. That might involve sitting next to me and talking to me about the topic I'm writing about. At the moment, she is sitting cheerfully in my lap and talking about Thomas the Tank Engine. It isn't exactly an ideal, quiet work setting, but it gets the jobs done-- parenting and "real" work alike.